Squash Blossoms Stuffed With Ricotta

Talk about flower power. As every gardener knows, late summer brings a bumper crop of zucchini and, better yet, of zucchini blossoms—known in Italy as fiori di zucca. Here, the tender yellow-orange blooms are filled with ricotta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and mint, then batter-fried. Served alongside an easy tomato sauce (dip as you like), they make an irresistible first course or, with the addition of a green salad, a satisfying main.

I grow Zucchini every year strictly for the blossoms. :) I used a fine chiffonade of Sweet Basil, Parsley & Mint ( which I grow organically) using the recipe shown here more as a guide instead of a rigid/inflexible rule. I used orange-flavored carbonated water instead of seltzer ( same batter outcome with an ever-so-subtle flavor element) cuz that's what I had on hand. I have a 6 acre farm, no such thing as a"quick" trip to the store so I use what I already have. I made my own quick dipping Marinara using Pommi boxed tomatoes (the BEST!), some minced garlic, a lil EVOO, Basil, Parm & my very own proprietary blend of seasoning salt; nuke it for like 3 mins, it's done. These came out beautifully crispy, lightly battered, luxuriously silky-savory & cheesy-yummy. I've served these as an app course in the past & I'm sure I'll do so again. :) I'd give it five forks if I could~ :)

These were delicious and disappeared in seconds after they were cooked! Like other reviewers, I bought marinara sauce instead of making my own. I could see that you could substitute basil for mint, but they did taste perfectly great with the mint. I accidentally overstuffed the fist blossom I filled, breaking a petal in the process, but it turned out just fine ;)

I made these tonight with marscapone rather than ricotta and stuck with the mint. I also swapped out gluten-free flour to accommodate food allergies. I needed to add more sparking water to get the batter to the correct consistency, but it worked. I served them with our favorite marinara sauce to save time. They were delicious! We can't wait for next week's farmers' market to buy more blossoms and make this again.

You can store unopened squash blossoms
in the refrigerator. Cut a long stem
when harvesting, trim the stem
underwater and place the stems in water
in the refrigerator. They will remain
fresh and unopened for 2-3 days. Warm
them up and they will open.

Great recipe! As others, I used store-bought marinara and substituted basil for the mint. I would also recommend piping the filling into the blossoms much easier than spooning. I simply used a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off.

Delicious! I used plain goat cheese and basil. The flowers were a little difficult and messy to stuff, but I managed and they didn't fall apat in the oil. Didn't make the tomato sauce--they were really rich though, so maybe the sauce would've cut the richness a bit. Next time. . .

These are great! I used basil in place of mint and they were really good. We didn't make the sauce and they were really good, but I like the idea of it with a sauce better. Making this again tonight with basil and then a simple sauce of garlic sauteed with canned tomatoes and a bit of crushed red pepper flakes.

I don't know how you could go wrong with this recipe! I didn't even have a deep fry thermometer, just a candy thermometer. I added fresh basil to the mint just because we had both fresh in the garden. We didn't bother with the tomato sauce either. It seems the negative reviews all had more to do with technique than flavor. Just twist the top of the flower, fold down, and secure with toothpicks. None of mine fell apart--they looked perfect. My husband went nuts for them.

This was our first
attempt at making
our own stuffed
squash blossoms. We
found some at the
farmers' market.
Made the blossoms
exactly according to
the recipe. We
didn't make the
sauce though and
instead used some
marinara sauce that
we had on hand. The
batter was very
light and tasty, and
the mint in the
stuffing added a
nice flavor. Would
definitely use this
recipe again.

I didn't even make the tomato sauce and this was great. I found the mint in the filling to be a unique addition that paired very well with the blossom flavor. The filling escaped from a couple of mine when being lifted out of the batter, but mostly they worked perfectly.

good recipe - i made
the squash blossoms
only. they were far
better than other
recipes i've tried
in the past and it
is hard to find one.
i added basil and
parsley as
recommended, since i
had them in the
garden. i did not
have ricotta so i
used goat cheese
which i had on hand,
which went well with
the herbs and lent a
little more flavor -
be careful not to
over stuff! i had
one or two fall
apart. i fried in
the bottom of my wok
and did not use
anywhere near 3 cups
of oil.....

The batter was nice and light - I think they could have used a little more flavor in the stuffing. However, I had leftover stuffing and added some flour and made some free-form gnocchi to go with the blossoms!

Fantastic!! I served these as 1 of 7 courses last night for a group of friends. I used basil and parsley instead of mint. The batter reminded me of tempura, which I have always chilled before dipping veggies, so I did chill the batter for about 15 min before dipping, and frying. They looked just like the picture, and tasted heavenly. sauce was great too, but I blanched and seeded my tomatoes prior, and pureed it after. TIP: DON"T overstuff the flower! AND, don't skimp on the oil, they kinda sink into the pot, and had a tendency to want to stick.

I found squash blossoms at the farmers market
and then I looked for a recipe because I had no
idea how to use them. This did not work out as
planned at all, but it was still tasty in the end.
As soon as I put the first one in the oil it
completely fell apart, so instead of subjecting
the whole batch of blossoms to the same
horrible fate, I gently sauteed them instead.
They still fell apart somewhat, and they were
very limp and not good for picking up. I just
served the whole mess of them over pasta. I
used the tomato sauce too, which I thought was
actually the yummiest part of the whole thing. I
think next year I'll find a different recipe for the
flowers. I'm not giving a fork rating for this
because I think a rating can only be given fairly
when the recipe is followed closely, which I
obviously didn't end up doing.